Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Clerk of Court
No. 09-8086
(D.C. No. 2:09-CR-00070-ABJ-1)
(D. Wyo.)
Defendant - Appellant.
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited,
however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th
Cir. R. 32.1.
**
a felon, Officer Hall arrested him. The entire stop lasted approximately 14 minutes
and 30 seconds. In this appeal, Chambers asks us to determine whether the officers
search was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.
Chambers was charged by indictment with two counts: of being (1) a felon in
possession; and (2) an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a
firearm. Chambers filed a motion to suppress based on Officer Halls search of his
vehicle. At the hearing on the motion, the district court found that the officer had
reasonable safety concerns about the knives in Chambers car. The district court
therefore upheld the search as a protective sweep. It issued a written order denying
Chambers motion for the reasons stated on the record. Chambers entered a
conditional plea of guilty to the felon in possession count; count two was dismissed.
He was sentenced to 15 years incarceration and three years of supervised release.
***
The search in question occurred around midnight in June 2008. Officer Hall
saw Chambers two-door sport-utility vehicle turn out of a bar parking lot with no
working tail lights and only one working brake light. Officer Hall stopped Chambers
vehicle and asked Chambers about the lights and his license, registration and
insurance. 1 Chambers did not have the vehicles registration or a current insurance
card.
As he was standing next to Chambers door to discuss the problems with
Chambers lights, Officer Hall saw two six- to seven-inch knives in the front center
console area, next to Chambers arm. He asked Chambers to step out of the vehicle
without the knives, Chambers reached for one, Officer Hall put his hand on his
service weapon and then Chambers complied. Officer Hall directed Chambers to sit
on the curb behind the vehicle. Officer Hall searched Chambers vehicle for
accessible weapons so that, eventually, Officer Hall could return Chambers to his
vehicle with the knives placed where Chambers couldnt easily grab them as he got
back in.
Officer Hall did not frisk Chambers, but asked Chambers if he had weapons
on him and asked Chambers to pull back his shirt so Officer Hall could look at his
waist area; Officer Hall saw no weapons. With Chambers sitting on the curb, Officer
Hall returned to the car and found additional knives. Officer Hall interrupted the
search to call for back up and to verify that Chambers license was valid. He learned
that Chambers was on probation for a methamphetamine-related felony and that his
terms of probation included a curfew, which he was violating, and a prohibition on
the use of drugs or alcohol.
Officer James Kelly arrived and administered a portable breath test to
Chambers that came back negative. Officer Hall continued his search. After
completing his search of the front part of the vehicle, Officer Hall then moved the
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passengers seat and, behind it, within reach of the drivers seat, he saw an open
plastic shopping bag, containing a blue bag with a mesh section. Through the blue
mesh bag, Officer Hall saw the handle of a firearm. Officer Hall confirmed with
Chambers that the bag contained a pistol (Chambers initially expressed surprise that
there was a pistol). Officer Hall also saw syringes, glass pipes or tubes in the blue
bag. He told Chambers he was placing him in investigative detention. Chambers ran.
The officers caught him and arrested him.
Chambers now appeals the district courts denial of his motion to suppress. He
argues that his continued detention while Officer Hall cleared Chambers vehicle of
knives was unrelated to the traffic stop, exceeded the reasonable scope of the original
stop and was not based on an articulable, reasonable suspicion that a crime was in
progress. 2 We uphold the district courts determination. 3
***
In reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we review factual findings of
the district court for clear error, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to
the government, and review de novo the reasonableness of the governments actions
under the Fourth Amendment. See, e.g., United States v. Fox, 600 F.3d 1253, 1257
2
The reasonableness of the initial stop was not at issue before the district
court.
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second-guess police officers decisions about how best to neutralize threats. See id.
at 669-70; see also Dennison, 410 F.3d at 1213 (rejecting an analogous argument
because the reasonableness inquiry is an objective one). We agree that Officer Halls
decision is not inconsistent with a reasonable, objective police officers warranted
belief that his safety or that of others was in danger. Dennison, 410 F.3d at 1212
(quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 27 (1968)). A vehicle filled with open knives and
a drivers movement to grab one of the knives after the police officer told him not
to is sufficient basis for a reasonable officer to conclude that placing the driver back
in the vehicle with the weapons where they lay poses a danger to both the officer and
the driver. See, e.g., Palmer, 360 F.3d at 1246 (holding that officers had a reasonable
suspicion that the suspect was dangerous because he was speeding in a school zone
and a license check revealed him to be potentially armed and dangerous even though
the police officer did not initially see any weapons in the car); Christian, 187 F.3d
at 669 ([T]he presence of one weapon may justifiably arouse concern that there may
be more in the vicinity....).
In addition, the district court properly held that it was reasonable for the
officers to conclude that Chambers could have gained immediate control of the
knives. A suspect may be deemed able to gain access to a weapon even if he is
outside the vehicle containing the weapons and under police control during part of
the search. See, e.g., Long, 464 U.S. at 1051-52; United States v. Vinton, 594 F.3d
14, 20-21 (D.C. Cir. 2010); Palmer, 360 F.3d at 1246-47 (upholding search when
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suspect sitting in patrol car while the officers open his locked glove box); see also
Dennison, 410 F.3d at 1213 (driver was handcuffed and behind the back of his truck
during the search of the trucks cab but the court found that the suspect might gain
access to the weapons in his vehicle). The time period during which the detainee
may gain immediate control is the entire period from the initial stop to the
detainees departure. Palmer, 360 F.3d at 1246 (discussing Long). Chambers
vehicle had a number of knives, which Chambers acknowledged at oral argument
were all within Chambers reach if he were sitting in the drivers seat. In addition,
unlike some of the defendants discussed above, Chambers was sitting on the curb
without handcuffs and therefore could have stood up and grabbed the unsecured
weapons in the vehicle. The officers search was justified as a protective weapons
search.
Chambers argues that the philosophy underpinning Arizona v. Gant affects this
case. Gant held that it is only reasonable to conduct a vehicle search incident to a
lawful arrest if the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the
passenger compartment at the time of the search (or if evidence of the crime might
be found in the vehicle). Gant, U.S. , 129 S. Ct. 1710, 1718-19 (2009); United
States v. McCane, 573 F.3d 1037, 1040 (10th Cir. 2009). The goal of a protective
sweep is, in part, to secure a vehicle so that when the defendant is returned to the
vehicle he is not likely to injure the officers. It is that distinction between a search
incident to an arrest and a protective sweep that makes Arizona v. Gant inapplicable.
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See Gant, 129 S. Ct. 1710, 1721 (2009) (distinguishing Long); Gant, 129 S. Ct. at
1724 (Scalia, J., concurring) (clarifying that the holding of Long is undisturbed by
Gant); United States v. Vinton, 594 F.3d at 24 n.3 (distinguishing Gant in the case
of a protective sweep search); United States v. Griffin, 589 F.3d 148, 154 n.8 (4th
Cir. 2009) (same). Chambers arguments to the contrary are unavailing.
For the foregoing reason, the district courts order is affirmed.
Richard D. Cudahy
Circuit Judge
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